In charge of the celestial gods

IN CHARGE OF THE CELESTIAL GODS is a project based on drawing as the means of exploring geography. It resulted in a set of drawings made on location in Greece using sunlight and rain water collected in England.

Geography is the spatial research into natural and anthropological phenomena. Alluding to the modern mission of Geography – ‘not where objects are but how they have changed and come to be’ – the drawing project embraces themes of transition, cultural evolution, tradition, scientific language and contemporary political and environmental issues.

In the first stage of the work, I collected rainwater in Manchester. In the second stage, the rain water was transferred to Athens, frozen and shaped into an improvised magnifying lens to be used as a condenser in order to concentrate sun light on paper sheets.

The use of experimental techniques to track sun’s latitude is an attempt to explore a scientific derivation of drawing and the means to achieve drawing patterns detached from technical skill. With the forms of surface burn on paper I purely display naturally created patterns which lie on the boundaries of the ritualistic tradition of Greek culture and the tradition of rationalism of the West, strongly present in England.

Bringing these ‘natural’ drawings back to Manchester, a new cycle of life is initiated for the work, raising questions of transition and space, the urban and the natural while evoking the common denominator across different audiences which lies in the consciousness of the evolution of human cultures and the respect for cultural difference.